fbpx

Damon Suede, a chart-topping M/M romance author, will change the way you think about craft and characters. Damon gives listeners tips from his books Verbalize and Your A Game such as thinking about characters in the term of budgeting a blockbuster film and why every character should be driven by a specific word. He also talks about sex, romance and exploring different types relationships. Warning: this episode contains explicit content!

  • Damon talks about how he got his start as a writer and how he ended up writing a romance novel.
  • Damon talks about his 20-minute presentation then ending up being the foundation for his title Verbalize.
  • Damon discusses his unique approach to characterization that he learned from being an actor.
    • When describing a character, they need to be doing something. An action for a character cannot be described by anything other than an active transitive verb. What characters do is what they are.
    • A character is not limited to just one action/word. They have an action for the entirety of book and then tactics; an action that is broken out into reactions based on different situations they find themselves in.
  • When I cast a character, I start with a verb and the verb is the core. I can extrapolate from there.
    • “If you write a mannequin, don’t expect a heartbeat.”
  • Damon also discusses how he approaches cutting down extraneous scenes and characters.
    • Ever character must serve the action and move the plot along.
    • “If I’m going to give you a 15-page digression, I have stolen attention from every other character in the story. I have also stolen tension and emotional pay-off and the reader starts to resent it because they are the ones that are paying attention.”
  • Damon gives us the story behind the creation of his title Your A Game he co-authored with fellow gay romance author Heidi Cullinan.
    • He talks about why they created a “chose your own adventure” plot structure to appeal to all authors, from different genres at different points in their career.
  • He talks to us about diversity and his experiences as a gay romance author and how he was able to grow his brand and readership.
    • “I don’t write gay romance, I write romance. ‘Gay’ is not a genre, ‘gay’ is the trope.”
    • “Luck is opportunity, plus preparation.”

Damon Suede – Spring 2012

Damon Suede grew up out-n-proud deep in the anus of right-wing America, and escaped as soon as it was legal. Though new to romance fiction, Damon has been writing for print, stage, and screen for almost three decades. He’s won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year. Get in touch with him at DamonSuede.com.

Website: http://www.damonsuede.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/DamonSuede

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/damon.suede.author

Verbalize https://www.kobo.com/ca/en/ebook/verbalize

Your A Game by Damon Suede and Heidi Cullinan

New to M/M romance? Try Damon’s first novel, here:

%d bloggers like this: